...river of words and images

My deepest most passionate longing is to create a place called SOULand where we pray 3 times a day everyday in songs, communion and silence.

​Where we grow our lives in .a way that enhances the place and the beings in it as bees do. A place where discipline and passion are woven in its frame.

Where beauty and love...authenticity and wounds are utterly welcome... where? with whom? How?

Soul's needs for our species is vital and entangled in attention and affection.

No electricity for 20 years, no wifi, internet, mobile phone. They pledged poverty to not take from the already very poor. They make their flour with ancient wheat grown by a neighbour, bake their bread. honey, olive oil, sweet chestnut flour are from their land and sentient beings. Their vegetables are stored in old washing machine barrels to last as long as possible. ​Each day the 8 wildish sheep with large bells need tending. They help lessening the fire risk by eating the grass on the many terrasses made by the ancients of this land in the Ardeche in France.

Each week people from all sorts of background and walks of life, all pilgrims, come to pray and find a portal to spirit again. Some bring walnuts from their fields, butter (getting rarer in France) or chocolate from Carrefour. Abundance always seem to enter that space.

Hermits living near by take care of the flowers for the tiny dark chapel made of schist, stones and local wood...so dark it takes a minute to see the simple icons, the long candle and the quiet welcomed stove in a corner.

Two 'little brothers' live there in a tiny Monastery 'La Demeure notre Père'. One 'brother' arrived as a young man at 20 years old 43 years ago, Paul. He went for a week from Holland and never left. The other arrived 36 years ago and is now 73, Jean-Michel. They follow and are totally devoted to Jesus and to some books that are not easy to take in as a woman (an other post). ...yet my heart opened like a pear tree blossom in their company this last few days perched in a sweet little wooden cabin by a stream where I lived and prayed.

3 times a day there were set time for praying together in the chapel in communion, in songs and in silence sometimes. I kept staring at Marie, she looked dignified, beautiful and kind there. I needed that energy so gratefully.It has been a road of real mystery and quite humbling which I needed .

These people have been sharing their place with a hospitality, generosity and 'bienveillance' that as a non Christian I feel truly blessed by. Their openness to 'the other' has disarmed me...and taught me much.

Their impact on our earth is like the one of a honey bee... pollinating, creating beauty, living within mystery and of service to the greater whole.

That perhaps is the important element when setting up a place of sanctuary, that it is of service to a Divine entity. Creation, Pachamama, God, Jesus, Allah or anything else that connects us to the great mystery...then perhaps there is a possibility to get a glimpse at what being a human being could be and offer a place of rest and listening.

They fought, were grumpy, impatient and rough sometimes... They never pretended to be nor wanted to be perfect. Their humanity on their sleeves, knowing themselves, they fell down so many times and kept getting up to stand for life.

They work all the time through waves of elated exhaustion (63 and 73 they are) ~ welcoming a 'stranger pilgrim' and praying times always take priority. We prayed for two/three brothers to find their way there and stay to help out. And they want to keep working until the last breath...retirement? from what :-) they say?

Everything for them is borrowed and to be tended to. I think it might be love.They are to me the pioneers of tomorrow.

Feeling blessed to have followed my broken heart after the suicide of a friend, to share a moment with these beautiful sacred and scarred souls. Thank you! Azul

I am writing with gathering butterflies in my bellyto let you knowabout the most adventurous vision I have ever followed and activating as I type ~ it is called : SOULand Pilgrimage 2018which ​started on 2nd Januarythis year​by the river Dart​~ 13 Lands, 13 ​Water, 13 ​Hosts and 13 ​Pilgrimages​completing on 21st January 2019. It will be followed​with a book ~ gathering the harvested of shared stories of the many ways and practices for the caring, feeding and maturing of our Human Soul.

I will be travelling with SOULand's bundle of Grief Composting, WomBelt: Weaving Women back into Matter, Soul&Sanity​making ​conversations with Grief, Love, Death and Lifethe four sisters of our last forest​.

​The relationship between Water, Women and Soul will also inform the ongoing activeprayer journey.

You can follow me and join us if you can in Totnes, California, France, Sicily, Belgium, Malvern, Ireland, Scotland, Bristol and Totnes for our LIFE CAIRN. ​Switzerland, Canada and Slovenia are also being considered at present...

See HERE for full list of the ​variouscountries I will be actively praying with and where I will share what is emerging.

I will be moving following the invitations, what is being revealed and the rhythm of the moon throughout the year.

If you want to be kept informed about SOULand Pilgrimage 2018 enter your email HERE to receive SOULand Newsletters

Blessings on all our journeys and offerings as we get increasingly tempered and more than ever...​needed! .

Azul-Valerie Thome for SOULandand for my mother (who died 3 months ago) and the 2000 generations behind​...it is time to live this wild and precious Life while we can...for the living and for the dead.

Thank you for reading and for your support. See you perhaps weaving the gold thread somewhere on our astonishing little blue Home.

The cost of our success is the exhaustion of natural resources, leading to energy crises, climate change, pollution, and the destruction of our habitat. If you exhaust natural resources, there will be nothing left for your children. If we continue in the same direction, humankind is headed for some frightful ordeals, if not extinction.Christian de Duve

Before we go extinct 12 species a day disappear in response to our amnesia and anaesthesia .

This morning as I sang to Water and Sun I was grief stricken as I remembered how the West African Black Rhinoceros also bathed and drunk that water as well as the Pyrenean Ibex, Passenger Pigeon, Quagga, Caribbean Monk Seal, Sea Mink, Tasmanian Tiger, Tecopa Pupfish and all my extinct relatives.

I felt moved to speak to them all, my tears mixing and binding together the past, present and future. All in motion, spiralling in what time and space might really be like...constantly accessible.

I told them of our Totnes Life Cairn. I spoke the ones created before in honour of them all ~ to place their bones and return their soul to soil... I told them that we will also celebrate the ones who are still with us.

I drunk a glass of water just now and heard their grunting, flaps, songs, scratch and their intimacy with their lives then. In each drop of Water is the whole of everything and everyone at all time.

Our first community meeting is in Totnes on Thursday 11th January at 6pm at Ben's Wine & Tapasfor all eARThist, artists and lovers who would like to 'weave' and bring into form this soulful and sanity making memorial. Much love ❤ Azul 07765257517

SOULand Pilgrimage 2018 second land and water is in San Luis Obispo in February

We will be creating spaces for Soul to feel welcome again. We will learn with passion and little patience to feed, care, court and praise Her back into being.

​I look forward to a deep and wild conversation with you all in the company of Grief, Love, Death and Life as if our Wild and Precious Life truly Mattered. Azul-Valerie Thome

Azul-Valérie Thomé is hosted by Donna HeleteSan Luis Obispo is the first stop on Azul's 13 month international SOULand Pilgrimage in service to the care, health and maturing of the human soul. She brings with her a vision, sacred questions and a bundle of soul nourishing practices and rituals, including the Grief Composting Circle and the WomBelt workshop to bless, heal, celebrate and protect women's wombs, divinely timed offerings that are in such need right now.Azul Valerie Thome will be traveling from the UK this February on the first international stop of her 13 month SOULand Pilgrimage generously hosted by Donna Helete.​

Registration for Workshops & Trainings

WomBelt Workshops & Apprenticeships for Women~ 2/7 (Wed.) For all women - all day~ 2/18 (Sun.) For all women+apprenticeships - all dayEach WomBelt (event & apprenticeship) = £65 = $95 depending on exchange rate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~Grief Composting Circles~ 2/11 (Sun.) Circles for Men and Women - 3pm-7pmGrief Composting Circle = £20 = $30 depending on exchange rate~~~~~~~~~~~~~Grief Composting Circle ~ Basic Training~ 2/23-2/25 (Fri.-Sun.) 3 Day Training, all day each day. Must attend all 3 days. Non residential.Grief Composting Training = £380 = $550 depending on exchange rate~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Other offerings during the month of February include Individual sessions of Soul&Sanity (50 min.) with Azul in person or via SkypeeARTh commissioned art work. Art infused with rituals infomred by our Motehr Earth for the Thriving of Life. Please email Azul directly for an initial chat on Skype: soulandinfo@gmail.comGrief Composting Circles are regular collective grief rituals informed by the work of Sobonfu Some, Joanna Macy, Francis Weller and Azul-Valerie ThomeWomBelt:Weaving Women back into Matter are events that bring 13 women together to bless, heal, celebrate and protect their wombs, the wombs of other women and of Mother Earth herself through the art of traditional backstrap weaving combined with story sharing and prayers.

“Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” ~ Mary Oliver

More about SOULand Pilgrimage 2018:This coming February, Azul-Valerie Thome will visit San Luis Obispo on the first international stop of a 13 month SOULand Pilgrimage which will launch from Azul’s home in the UK in January 2018. She will weave her visit to 13 lands, 13 rivers, 13 hosts, along with 13 prayers into a book in 2019. Donna Helete will host Azul during her stay.She brings with her a Vision of a place called SOULand in Europe. A Water Mill/ land based Hospital and School for SOULand practitioners. A Place and a Programme to learn and remember rituals and practices for the care, health and maturation of the human Soul.

Azul brings with her sacred questions:

What does our soul need to thrive?

What happens to Life when Soul is starved or traumatized?

What are the connections between Soul, Women and Waters?

Is the state of our Waters connected to the state of our Soul?

How do we move from mental-health to soul-health?

How do we remember, repair and create a soulful culture?

Azul brings with her a bundle of soul nourishing practices and rituals with the intention of giving people the experience of soul tending and training those who wish to carry on these practices.

Descriptions of Events and Offerings

Grief Composting Circles that weave together the traditions of Sobonfu Some, Francis Weller and Joanna Macy along with Azul’s own wisdom teaching.The Circles are a 3.5 hour experience while the training is 3 days long.The Grief Composting Circle Training is for men and women wishing to hold circles for the well being of their community. In order to sign up for the training, it is best to have had the original experience of the Grief Composting Circle so please plan to sign up for both.

WomBelt: Weaving Women back into Matter. For Women. This full day workshop brings 13 women together to bless, heal, celebrate and protect their wombs, the wombs of other women and of Mother Earth herself through the art of traditional backstrap weaving combined with story sharing and prayers.